Northern Continent
The Northern Continent, or Borea,' '''is the larger of the two continents of the world, located north and east of the Southern Continent. It is generally divided into three subcontinents: the Anglean subcontinent, which extends to the south toward the equator, the Noriki subcontinent, to the northwest, and the Lasterian subcontinent, to the northeast. It has a total area of slightly over twelve million square miles, and a total population of 1,200,000,000. Like the Southern Continent, the Northern Continent contains a highly diverse range of biomes. The Great Northern desert, which lies at the intersection of the three subcontinents, is by far the world's largest desert, stretching over a million square miles, while Oshganituguar contains the wettest place on the planet, the Oshgan rainforest. The Czasa mountains of Norik are some of the highest in the world, with only the Toranese Mountains being higher, and the Czca region of Norik contains many of the coldest and most remote regions of the planet. The Lasterian subcontinent is dominated by deciduous forest and fertile grassland, while the Gloern peninsula is mostly covered in tropical coastal plain and spots of rainforest. The Northern Continent contains the three most populous countries on Terra: Norik, Lasterus and the Basalteinell Federation. It is the homeland of the Anglean Empire, which once claimed more than half of the world's population as its subjects and has left a lasting influence on the world in the form of its official language, English, and its official religion, Centrism, both of which remain the most common in the world. Nearly all of the Northern Continent except for Norik and Basaltiano is considered part of the Anglean World, and shares a common cultural heritage. The Northern Continent is also home to Eqota, another nation that spread its influence across both continents and established several vast naval empires. Today, Lasterus, the second-largest country on the continent and in the world, is generally considered to be the most powerful country in the world and is a global economic, political and military leader. Name The conception of the "Northern Continent" as a homogeneous entity is relatively modern; to most of its residents for most of history, it would have been thought of as the whole world, with no knowledge of the Southern Continent. Even to the Angleans, who knew of the Southern Continent, there was no explicit word for the Northern Continent, as the world was not seen as being neatly divided into two continents; the Anglean worldview was not correct, and believed that their was in fact only one, undivided landmass that connected on the opposite side of the Inner Ocean. The Northern Continent is sometimes called the ''Anglean Continent, or simply'' Anglea'', although this term is often regarded as not including Norik, which covers nearly a third of the continent's area, and Anglea also included parts of the Southern Continent. In Rhamidi, the continents are known as Borea ''and ''Austrea. Political Geography The Northern Continent has fewer countries than the Southern Continent, with only sixteen countries. Most of these are located on the Anglean subcontinent, as Norik occupies the entirety of the Noriki subcontinent and the Lasterian subcontinent features only three countries: Lasterus, Eqota and Telinia.